The Boy I Met in Paris
by vivaforever597
Summary: She'd always thought she knew him. But it wasn't until that night in Paris that she began to understand his appeal. AU: modern, no bending.
1. Chapter 1

_This is set in more or less the same universe as my previous fics "All Hallows' Eve" (and sort of the same one as "Someone Else," but with different ships), and it takes place several months after "AHE." In this AU, the characters are in their late teens/early twenties, and live in our modern world, though Zuko and Azula are still royalty._

* * *

I'd always thought I'd known him. Sarcastic, full of himself. Attractive, admittedly. But I'd never understood why so many girls — Toph Bei Fong, Princess Yue, even my Ty Lee — had seen in him. But that night in Paris, I began to understand.

I said as much to Zuzu once, and he told me that I'm equally sarcastic and full of myself. (He was right, but then, _I_ have reason to be.) He also said that he didn't expect me to be such a romantic. I thought that was funny, considering how soft he goes with Bei Fong, but I suppose he had a point. I am a very serious woman who doesn't often submit herself to foolishness.

If I were more sentimental, I might say it was the effect of Paris, the so-called city of love, or something. Luckily, I have enough sense not to fall for such ideas. I fell for Sokka because of how we were thrown together. Anyone could have, really. We were only in Paris because it was Katara's silly idea. She decided she wanted to go see the supposedly beautiful city. And where she went, so did Aang, and where they went, so did Toph and Sokka, and if Toph was going, my dumb brother was. And someone had to keep him from humiliating himself _too_ badly. I was the only person up to the task, frankly.

I was, of course, already bored by the second night. If we were in France, I thought, we ought to be admiring the sites of Napoleon's rise to power or something of that nature. It would have been educational. For me, at least. Everyone aspiring to world power ought to have a rolemodel. But instead, we'd been going to all the common places: the tower, the arch, the palace... mundane, I thought. Even the blind girl was enjoying herself more than I. But then, she had Zuzu to kiss and cuddle, and generally cling to at all times. He never acknowledged the grimaces I made for his benefit whenever they were being especially grotesque, but I know he saw them. And naturally, it was only made worse by Aang and Katara, the little lovebirds, apparently determined to fill our days with as much saccharine-sweetness as they could. So I spent most of my time trying to amuse myself at least slightly, lest I appear too careless and my brother start comparing me to Mai. (I've told him that mocking his ex-girlfriend is unbecoming, and he should just publicly humiliate her and be done with it. He won't listen.)

Avoiding boredom was especially difficult that night, sitting in a vulgar little café with a musician in the corner playing the accordion. What a poor excuse for an instrument. It completely lacks in pomp and circumstance. But the two perfect couples seemed charmed. Well, they would be. I looked around, assessing the situation to determine a way of escaping it. As my gaze passed across Sokka, he met my eyes. He gave me his sweet but sardonic little smile, and I knew he saw through the peasants' silly trappings almost as well as I did. If I were one to socialize with my lessers, I would have said something, but I decided that I had best just leave the little group without a word. If they noticed my absence, they could think I'd gone to the restroom; I wasn't about to reveal my true intentions. But Zuzu and Toph were spending their time gazing at each other with those disgustingly sweet expressions, and Katara and Aang pressing against one another and watching the musician. And I doubted Sokka would care enough about my absence to think anything of it.

On that count, I was wrong. A rarity.

My chair scratched against the floor as I rose from my seat, folding my arms across my chest as I turned away from the table. I didn't need to stay in here if I didn't want to, I decided. I am hardly someone to be subdued, after all. So I looked for an appropriate escape, and when none presented itself immediately, I confronted the maître d'hôtel.

"Let's say I want to get away from my silly friends and have a smoke by myself," I said. The man didn't seem sufficiently afraid of me, so I leaned even closer to his face. "Where could I step out of the room for a moment?"

He remained unruffled. _These Frenchmen_, I thought. _They show such unmerited haughtiness._ "May I suggest the front door, miss?" he replied mildly and looked down at his diagram of the café's tables, apparently thinking he was done with me. I corrected him.

"You may not!" I hissed. He looked back up to me, now with a bit of the look of fear and awe that he should have had to begin with. Good. He'd begun to comprehend the gravity of whom he was speaking to. "There must be a back door somewhere..." I prompted. "I suggest you tell me where it is, or suffer the consequences!" It was, I admit, not one of my better threats; I didn't really know what consequences I could impose on the man. But it ended all right, since he gestured toward the kitchen and spoke up.

"There's a door to the outside just past the kitchen entrance," he instructed. I walked away, not giving him the thanks I didn't think he deserved. From my peripheral vision, I saw him slump down onto his lectern, seemingly relieved to be rid of me. Well, I can be a very intimidating person. When it behoves me, that is.

I swept into the kitchen and ignored the variously puzzled and angry cries of the chefs and their underlings. When you're a princesss, you see, you needn't listen to such unimportant people. Even if your kingdom has fallen and few people appreciate your title, you have an innate dignity, I believe. I found a large metal door immediately to my left and swung it open to find myself in a poorly lit alley, with obnoxious dance music coming from the discothèque across the way. I sneered in the sound's general direction as I took out a cigarette and lit it. The next day, I decided, I was getting away from that awful place.


	2. Chapter 2

I blew out a tuft of smoke, feeling much better having made that decision. I felt a little guild about leaving Zuzu alone with these foolish people, but it _was_ his decision, after all. I couldn't help it that he was bound to shame himself sooner or later.

The alley began to feel like a rather comfortable place to think. As comfortable as anywhere in that city, anyway. I was startled by that realization: if I was becoming comfortable, how badly had this place infected me? I am a most adaptable person, but if I were in my own home, I would never have needed to stand in a dark alley. I could have had the run of the entire block if I wanted it. My leg muscles were already tensed, as if I were going to run away right then — and I considered it — when I realized that the reason for the drop in my discomfort lay in the discothèque's soundtrack. It had shifted from that dance music to a slower, syncopated song. It still wasn't my preferred genre, but it was slightly better, at least. I turned my cigarette over in my fingers, watching its end glow. I've always thought fire to be beautiful, but right then it seemed quite mundane. I sniffed, my ennui returning. _Oh, good_, I thought. _Now I'm even using their words. I really do need to escape before this place plays any further with my head._ But it was better to suffer boredom outdoors than in, I reflected. At least here I didn't have to see the lovebirds.

The door creaked open begind me, and I scowled with displeasure, then turned to tell the worker to leave me alone. I was a paying customer, after all. What was it to them if I wanted some time alone? But instead, I saw Sokka.

"What are you doing out here?" I snapped, masking my surprise with rage. It wasn't as though I was lying by my tone of voice: I was genuinely upset at having my angst interrupted. I just didn't want him to see me flustered. After all, I have a reputation for boldness that I didn't want to see tarnished. And anyway, he might get the wrong idea of _why_ I was flustered by his appearance. Then again, surely even he couldn't be so dense as to think I had feelings for him.

And even if he did think so, he'd never act on it. He was with Suki, after all. They weren't as cuddly and smoochy as his sister and Aang, but they were a happy couple. Or so I was told.

_I've never had a relationship_, I thought suddenly. _The only boys I've asked out have run away from me. Not like Ty Lee. She can hardly keep them away._ I quickly cleared my head of such silly thoughts and returned to the present moment. I glared at Sokka until he replied to my question, which, I suppose to his credit, didn't take too long.

"You left. I thought I'd follow you," he said smoothly, smirking as if to question why I'd asked such a stupid question. None of my questions are stupid. Ever.

"Why?" I said. I knew he'd think me curt. I didn't care.

I expected him to make a sarcastic response, as he usually did when someone questioned his intentions, but instead he slouched against the wall. "I feel lonely," he said flatly. "Suki and I... we broke up, you know." I didn't, and I suppressed the urge to remind him that I didn't care. I didn't care, after all. Not one iota. "It's hard to watch Katara and Aang sometimes. And your brother and Toph," he continued. "I miss Yue," he added. I tried not to roll my eyes. _She died_, I thought. _Lots of people die. Get over it!_ "Don't you get lonely?" he asked.

My jaw started to fall before I caught it. "Why would you say that?" I exclaimed. He was getting far too close to my thoughts...

"You don't have anyone either," he explained. "You don't have anyone at all. Like me." He paused, frowning, as if he'd just had a revelation. "Oh. Or are you and Ty Lee —?"

"Of course not!" I snapped. What a ridiculous idea. How could he think we were a couple? I couldn't deny that I'd thought of it, but...

He interrupted my brief fantasy by grabbing my hand. Instinctively, I snapped it away. But after I did so, I realized how pleasing it had been to feel his skin in mine.

I murmured an apology. I don't know why I did that; I never apologize. Then I went even further away from my norms by reaching back out for him. He smiled at me again, and suddenly I understood what Ty Lee and Suki and the other girls had seen in him. He was cocky, to be sure, but beneath that façade, he seemed somehow injured. Lucky for him that I like injured people. Well, the ones I've injured, anyway. But I guess I'm a little hurt myself. My childhood wasn't a very happy one, after all.

We stood there for a moment, with his hand in mine. It was pleasant, I had to admit, though somewhat unbecoming someone of my stature. But, I thought, if just standing there was _pleasant_, how much better would something more be? So I acted impulsively (which, I will admit, was out of my nature) and forcefully spun him around so he was in my arms. He didn't seem to mind, which was fortunate. For him, mostly. Instead, he pressed closer to me and started moving. At first, I was unsure what he was attempting, but I quickly realized that his steps were timed to the music that still came from the disco. Well, the place had to be good for something.

"I haven't danced in a long time," I muttered as I started to mimic his movements.

"Time to change that," he replied quietly.

We stayed in silence after that. Not _silence_, of course, since the music continued, but we weren't speaking. After another song or two, another dance track began pounding out of the discothèque's walls, making me frown in distaste. Sokka seemed to notice my discomfort and tried to diminish it, as befit someone of his place. "We should probably go back in," he said. He started to release me, but before we could separate entirely, he leaned in and kissed me.

I was shocked, of course: who did that peasant think he was? But then I realized that somehow, in only the past few minutes, he'd become more than another peasant to me.

Or perhaps it had been more than the past few minutes...

"Sokka!" I said harshly. In the time I had needed to think that through, which was almost so quickly as to be no time at all, he'd completely let me go, reached the door and put his hand on its handle. He turned around to face me, not that he could have been able to see me very clearly in the darkness.

"Are you going to give me a speech about how I shouldn't kiss you because I'm beneath you?" he asked with his ingratiating smile. _Why am I suddenly finding that smile so attractive?_ I wondered. _I've always thought it frustrating. Obnoxious, even._ I resolved to push the question out of my mind for the moment so I could carry out my intentions. I shoved my arms around the boy and returned his kiss as tenderly and as strongly as I could. As you may have guessed, the latter comes to me more naturally than the former, but I was determined to attempt affection, _and_ to succeed.

Apparently, I was even more successful than I'd expected. Sokka returned the embrace, taking the ends of my hair in his hands and stroking my neck gently. Or perhaps, though I hesitate to use such a fairytale-esque term, lovingly. I closed my eyes, thinking that would further immerse me in the beautiful feeling I had, but only a moment later, Sokka drew away and reentered the café, leaving me without a word.

I remained where I was and tried to collect myself. _What have I done?_ I thought desperately. I'd had a lapse of judgment. I couldn't truly have romantic feelings for this boy who irritated me so! But I couldn't quite rationalize my thoughts and actions from the past fifteen minutes...

Perhaps I am less dissimilar to most people as I try to be. And maybe, _maybe_, that is what I learned that night.

Sokka and I haven't had another such encounter, but it may interest you to know that I'm only now leaving, with the rest of these people who think themselves my peers. I cannot deny that I was persuaded not to leave on the third day in part by my experience that night. Kissing and dancing in the dark with a boy I'd met long ago, but only began to know in Paris.

And the next time we're away from the notice of our siblings and their little companions, well, I have my plans.

* * *

_This fic was inspired by the Diana Vickers song "Boy in Paris," though only this chapter draws on it (it was going to be a one-shot, but I developed the exposition enough that I decided to publish it as a separate chapter)._

_I decided to break up Sukka, who were briefly shown as a couple in "All Hallows' Eve," solely to facilitate the shipping in this story and to give him something in common with Azula (their mutual loneliness). They're actually one of my three _Avatar_ OTPs (the other two being Kataang and Toko), so it was not ship-bashing, I assure you!~_


End file.
